Indians accounted for 75.6% of H-1B visas in 2017: US
Technology professionals from India accounted for 74.2% of the total number of H-1B visas issued by the US in 2016 and the next year the figure rose to 75.6%, a government report titled "Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers" said. However, there has been a drop in the number of new H-1B beneficiaries from India, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services report said.
H-1B visas issued to China in 2016, 2017
China with 9.3% and 9.4% respectively for 2016 and 2017, comes a distant second after India in terms of the number of H-1B visas issued. However, the number of beneficiaries from India approved for initial employment decreased by 4.1% in fiscal 2017, while the number of beneficiaries approved for continuing employment increased by 12.5% in fiscal 2017, the USCIS said.
What is H-1B visa?
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.
Work visa can be extended up to maximum 6 years
The USCIS said petitions for initial employment are filed for first-time H-1B employment with an employer, only some of which are applied to the annual cap. Continuing employment petitions refer to extensions, sequential employment, and concurrent employment filed for foreigners already in the US. Extensions generally are filed for H-1B workers intending to work beyond initial three-year period upto a total of 6-years.
70,737 Indians received H-1B visas in 2016
In 2016, as many as 70,737 Indians received initial H-1B visas, which dropped to 67,815 in 2017. During the same period, Indians accounted for 185,489 visas for continuing employment, which increased to 208,608 in 2017. In all, there were 256,226 Indians on H-1B visas in 2016 and 276,423 in 2017. The report's copy, sent to US lawmakers on April 10, became public this week.
Median salary increased from $82,000 to $85,000 in 2017
Dismantling several myths about H-1B, the USCIS said the median salary of beneficiaries of approved petitions increased from $82,000 for the fiscal year 2016 to $85,000 for fiscal 2017. While the number of H-1B petitions filed increased 1.24% from 398,718 in 2016 to 403,675 in 2017, the number of H-1B petitions approved increased 5.9% from 345,262 in 2016 to 365,682 in 2017.
66.2% of H-1B visas approved in 2017
According to the report, the number of H-1B petitions approved in 2017 for workers between the ages of 25-34 was 66.2%, the number of H-1B petitions approved in 2017 for workers with a bachelor's degree was 45.2%. In addition, 44.5% of approved petitions were for workers with a master's degree, 6.8% had a doctorate, and 3.3% were for workers with a professional degree.
69.8% of H-1B visas approved for computer-related work in 2017
The number of H-1B petitions approved in 2017 for workers in computer-related occupations was 69.8%. The number of H-1B petitions approved for workers in computer-related occupations increased by 6.6% from 237,837 in 2016 to 254,592 in 2017. The number of H-1B petitions for all other occupation groups increased by 3.4% from 106,418 in 2016 to 110,009 in 2017, the report said.
